How do I split the text equally in a twocolumn document?

Question

I want the same amount of text in both column. Is there an option for that like there is in the "multicol" package?

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\begin{document}
\lipsum[1-4]
\end{document}

Answer 1

There are several possibilities to balance a two-column layout, see How to balance last page of two-column layout?

One possibility is the usage of the balance package:

\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}
\usepackage{balance}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\begin{document}
    \balance
    \lipsum[1-4]
    \newpage
    \nobalance
\end{document}

Ensure to use \balance in a left column. And taken from the manual:

The \balance command should be given for each page that needs balancing, and then turned off at the end of the second column.

So: use \nobalance after each balanced column to end the balancing, because otherwise many of the other (full) pages after \balance might look ugly at the bottom.

Answer 2

use the multicol package, and it has the two behaviors you describe, an example.

\documentclass[]{article}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\usepackage{multicol}
\begin{document}
\begin{multicols}{2}
    \lipsum[1-4]
\end{multicols}
\newpage
\begin{multicols}{2}
    \lipsum[1-4]
\end{multicols}
\end{document}